By Ali Mucteba Gokcek
Ever since Kyrie Irving started writing “Allah” in parentheses next to whenever he wrote “God” in his tweets of prayers and statements, there has been speculation about whether Irving had converted to Islam.
These claims were further supported when Irving missed a game against the Timberwolves for personal reasons on April 13th, the first day of fasting for Muslims. After that many began to strongly believe that Irving had actually converted to Islam and was practicing Ramadan for the first time. After the Nets’ win against the Celtics on April 23, Irving spoke about whether he was fasting: “I am taking part of Ramadan with a lot of my brothers and sisters, my Muslim brothers and sisters.”
He also says that he is a “part of the Muslim community,” putting an end to the speculation on whether he is Muslim or not. Although Irving said that it has been an adjustment to playing during Ramadan, his performance has been very well with multiple 30+ games and a near triple-double. It will be very interesting to see what will happen in the future regarding Irving’s faith, how he will practice it, and how it will affect his game.
